Powder dusting machine



Nov. 24, 1931.

| F. BURGER POWDER DUSTING MACHINE Original Filed A ril 9, 1924 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 24, 1931 F. BURGER 1,332,963

POWDER DUSTING MACHINE Original Filed April 9, 1924 4 Shuts-Sheet 2 NMQM \N\ mm, A QM N J Q E r wm uh aw 1 0 RN w h 5 Q 0 NM 3 Q n ah. w m\ wt l I I 1 h Q o i 4, u m" Nov. 24, 1931. L, F. BURGER 1,832,963

POWDER DUSTING MACHINE Original Filed April 9, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 TEa 0 W co H w M: s 1 1 1'1: F 1\./ 3*

Nov. 24, 1931. F. BURGER POWDER DUSTING MACHINE Original Filed April 9,1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I 72002507 zeo aafliflzuyen Patented Nov. 24, 1931um'rso STATES PATENT OFFICE LEOPOLD F. BURGER, OI RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL mn- VESTER COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION NEW JERSEY POWDER DUSTING MACHINE Original application filedApril 9, 1921, Serial No. 705,184. Divided and this application fliedFebruary 1, 1828. Serial No. 251,028.

This application is a division' of pending application Serial No.705,164 filed A n1 9, 1924, said application having become atent No.1,691,563, issued November,13, 1928.

The invention relates to tractor o erated dusting machinery adapted totrave along rows of growing plants and discharge a poisonous dust orpowder thereon for the purpose of killing any plant destroyingparasites, such for example as the boll-weevil in the case of cottonplants.

Theobjects of this invention are to provide an improved dusting machinein the form of an attachment adapted to be carried in a novel manner ona tractor, to the end that a power take-off shaft of the tractor may beconveniently utilized to drive the operative parts of the dustinmechanism.

The machine is g panying sheets of drawings, like characters ofreference designating like parts, and wherein- Figure 1 is a sideelevational view of the tractor and the improved dusting mechanismsupported thereon; V

igure 2 is a similar view, but showing the machine in plan;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view, the

discharge nozzles being removed for clarity of illustration;

Figure 4 is a detail sectional, rear view of the hopper and the feedingmechanism associated therewith;

Figure 5 is a detail sectional side view of the hopper and feedingmechanism and the control therefor; and

Figure 6 is a detail of the feeding cutter plu fie tractor shown'inFigures 1, 2 and 3 comprises rear repelling wheels 10 having stub axles11, which are driven by operative connections contained in" gear casings12, these operative connections being driven from the shafts 13 which inturn. are of:- erated by a conventional differential mec anism containedcentrally within the housing 14. Suitably fixed to the differentialhousing and substantially centrally thereof,

is a pair of forwardl and longitudinally ex tending tractor side ramemembers 15 which isclosed in the accomprovided near its upper end with atriangularly shaped bracket. 19' suitably bolted thereto. These bracketsfunction to support a U-shaped frame member 20 extending rearwardly ofthe tractor a substantial distance. The rear end or bight portion ofthis 'U-shaped member is supported by brace members 21 suitably boltedthereto and which extend downwardly and forwardly parallel to the earcasings 12 and attached theretoby bracfiets 22.

Disposed transversely across the rear end of the U-shaped member 20 is arectangularly shaped bed plate 23 which serves as a support and bottomfor a dust containing hopper 24. Thisbed plate, it will be observed, isbolted to the bight of the U-shaped member by means of integral,rearwardlyextendin brackets 25. The hopper is provided wit a cover whichmay be clamped to the sides of the hopper by any suitable form of claming means 26. The discharge opening of t e hopper is at its bottom andso the hopper is accordingly provided with a rear inclined wall whichthus functions after the manner of a chute, that is, the material of itsown weight is. directed to the bottom opening. This rear inclined wallis provided with a metallic strap 27 which overlaps the side walls ofthe hopper, and, being fastened thereto, makes for a very sturdy andrigid construction. Tie rods or trusses 28 may be provided on oppositesides of the hopper for further supporting it on the U-shaped framemember. 7

Sturdy, depending, triangularly shaped castings 29 are bolted to thediflerential housing in spaced relation on the rear side thereof. Thelower ends of these members 29, which extend considerably below theplane of the U-shaped frame member above described, are connected bymeans of a plate 30 suitably bolted thereto, and form a table orplatform for supporting a blower mechanism to be hereinafter described.

The rear end of the U-shaped frame member carries rearwardly extendingclips 31 for supportin a rockable shaft or pipe 32, which extends trough suitable journals in these clips 31 and laterally of the machine,as shown clearly in Figure 2. The rockahle pipe 32 is provided withrearwardly extend ing supporting members 33 which are adapted to supportconventional flexible conduits or hose members 34, each of which leadsto a discharge nozzle 35. The hose members 34 are supported on therearwardl extending members 33 by means of depending clips 36. By meansof an arm 37 rigidly fixed to the pipe 32 and a pull link 38 connectedto the arm at one end and to a suitable lever 39 at the other end, andsupported on the differential housing, the supporting members 32 and 33,and consequently the hose members and nozzles, may be rocked or liftedin a vertical plane to various positions of adjustment. to accommodatethe discharge nozzles to any height of growing plants.

The. feeding and discharging mechanisms for the dust contained in thehopper will next be described.

The opposite side ends of the bed plate member 23 forming the bottom ofthe hopper are provided with journals or bearing members 40 whichrotatably receive (see Figure 4) stub shafts 41 which extend slightlyinwardly of the side walls of the hopper where the are telescoped into ahollow shaft 42 and eld for rotation therewith by means of pins-43. Theshaft 42 is provided on opposite sides of its median portion withopposed spiral or screw feeding members 44, which, when rotated, feedthe material in the hopper toward the center thereof. Disposed at rightangles to or longitudinally with respect to the transversely disposedhopper and below the plane of the bottom thereof, is a dischargingconduit 45 which communicates with a bottom opening 1n the hopper bymeans of a circular chamber 46. The circular chamber 46 is elongated inthe form of a cylinder and houses a rotatable cutting member 47 keyedto, but slidably arranged on, a shaft 48. This cutting membersubstantially fills the space provided by the chamber 46 and has cutinto its periphery for a portion of its efl'ective length, a series oflongitudinally cut grooves providing teeth inclined in the samedirection to the radius of the cylinder, thus forming in effect acutting mcmber very much after the fashion of a milling cutter. It willthus be appreciated that as the member is rotated it will cut into thematerial which is being fed to the center of the hopper by the screwfeeders in a manner to fill the grooves between the teeth, and sodeliver the dust or material through an arc of 180 degrees, where itwill be fed to the discharge conduit 45. The forward end of the housing46 is provided with an extension 49 which receives a reduced integralextension and collar portion 50 of the cylindrical cutting plug.

In dusting machinery heretofore employed, the machines were not entirelycommercially successful for the reason that the delivery of the materialor dust from the hopper to the discharging conduit could not be variedat the will of the operator to meet varying conditions. It is highlydesirable, therefore,

that some means be provided for varying the discharge of material fromthe hopper. Applicant accomplishes this very des rable result by meansof a lever 51 arranged adjacent the operators seat on the tractor andfa? crumed in a bracket 52 bolted to the forward sideof the casting .23forming the bottom of the hopper; A bell crank 53 is intergrally fittedas an extension of the lever 51 and has a portion engaging through aslot in the extended housing 49 to engage the collar 50 for shifting orsliding the cylindr cal cutting plug axially of its driving shaft 48.Any suitable detent means, such as that diagrammatically shown at 54,may be provided for locking the lever 51 in any of a number of variouspositions of adjustment. The idea, thus, is that, if the operator wishesa greater amount of dust to be delivered to the discharge conduit, heexposes a greater amount of cutting surface of the cylindrical plug tothe opening in the bottom of the hopper: and, vice versa, if he desiresa smaller flow of material from the hopper, he exposes a smaller cuttingsurface of the cylindrical cutting plug to the material in the hopper.This is a very desirable feature and contributes greatly to thesuccessful operation of this feeding mechanism. Or, the operator maymomentarily cut off the discharge of material from the hopper byexposing the right hand, smooth surface of the cutter, as shown inFigure 6, without having to stop the driving connections of an of theparts.

It will be observed that the conduit 45 directly at the point ofdischarge of the cutting plug 47 is constricted in diameter to form aventuri 55, the rear end of which is coupled by a cluster-like member 56to the discharge hose member 34. The forward end of the venturi iscoupled by a length of flexible tubing 57 to the outlet pipe 58 of ablower, preferably a pressure blower, housed within a casing 59 andsecured by suitable bolts to the platform 30. A breather or intake pipe60 is provided for the blower contained within the housing 59. A reliefvalve 6i is also provided in the outlet pipe 58.

In machines of this general type heretofore employed the operativemechanisms thereof were riven from traction wheels of a horsedrawnimplement. The result was that, due to slippage and poor traction, themechanism 05 venturi and is b own out through the nozzles,

w s not operated at a uniform speed. This diiliculty is overcome in thepresent invention by utilizing the power take-off of the tractor for imartmg a uniform s eed-of rotation to all of the operative parts 0 thedusting mechanism. Extending rearwardly of the transmission and powertake-oil assembly 16 of the tractor is a shaft car ing with a pinionfiflwhich rotates the shaft carrying the fan comprising the blower mechanismwith n the casing 59. This shaft, it will be understood, is extendedrearwardly through the blower mechanism into the gear casing 64, housingsuitable reduction gearing for imparting rotation to a shaft 65, whichis operatively connected by a sprocket and chain to a transverselyarranged shaft 66 rotatably journaled in brackets 67 and 67 carr ed bythe hopper bottom casting 23 and-housing 46, respectively. The innerbracket 67 as clearly shown in Figure 2. also rotatably supports theshaft 48 disposed'at a right angle to the shaft 66 and which impartsrotation to the c tting plug 47 by means of bevel gearing 68. The outerend of this shaft 66 is operatively connected by means of a chain andsprocket to one of the stub shafts 41 for impart ng rotation to thescrew conveyer in the bottom of the hopper.

A rsum of the operation of the above described machine follows:

The hopper, by means of its cover,'is filled with any poisonous dust,preferably calcium arsenate, which is now cheap and available incommercial quantities, The tractor is then started and -'e powertake-01f thrown into operation, w ch thereupondrives the blower andimpels a uniform blast of air through the outlet 58, tube 57, venturi55, and thence through the cluster 56 and out at the nozzles, which areadjusted at a proper working elevation" by means of the lever 39 toconform to the height of the growing "rows of plants. By means of thedriving connection described and particularly the gearing containedwithin the casing 64, rotation is imparted to the shaft 66. which is oratively connected to drive both the cylindi ic'al cutting plug and thescrew feeder in the bottom of the hopper. This screw feeder, when in"operation, is constantly moving the powder in the hopper toward thecenter, where it cakes or packs above the rotatable cutter.

The cutter, by means of the lever 51, is ad-' justed axially of itslength and exposed more or less to the powder through the opening inthe, bottom of the hopper and cuts into it and fills the grooves in itsperiphery with powder, which isthen carried in a clockwise direction tothe venturi 55, as viewed in Figure 4. A strong and uniform blast ofair, it will be remembered. is passing through this discharging conduitof which the venturi is a part. The owderi'either drops into the ing agear 62 meshor is blown out of r and so carried throu h the nozzles. Afurther advantageous eature of this venturi construction is that it hasa tendency to draw the powder out of the grooves by its aspiratingeffect thereon, as the constricted diameter of the venturi materiallyincreases the velocity of the blast of air at this point.

.If it is. desired to remove the dusting machine, so that thetractor maybe utilized for other purposes, it is only necessary to disconnect theU-bar 20from the brackets 19; to remove the two hangers 29 from the rearaxle housing 14; it being clear that, when the hangers are removed, thegear 63 drops out of mesh with the gear 62 on the tractor powertake-ofl' shaft, thus disconnecting also the power drive connections. 1

It'will be observed that the tractor is oif a type having widely spacedrear wheels and a relatively high, arched rear axle. This enables thetractor to pass over tall growing plants by straddling the same.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes'inthe shape, size, and general disposition of the partsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention asindicated in the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dusting attachment for tractors having an arched, rearaxlestructure, said attachment comprising a U-bar adapted to besupported on said axle structure, a hopper and duster. dischargeconnection carried on the U-bar, dispensing means for the hopper,hangers connected to the rear axle structure, a plate on the hangersarranged under the ,U-bar. a blower on the plate. and drivingconnections adapted for operation from the tractor for driving theblower and dispensing means.

2. A dusting attachment for tractors having an arched, rear axlestructure, said attachment comprising an upper frame member adapted tobe supported on the axle structure. a hopper and dispensing means on sad upper frame member, a lower frame adapted to be hung from the ax estructure, a blower on said lower frame. and driving connections fromthe tractor for driving the blower and dispensing means.

3. A dusting machine attachment for a tractor having a power take-01fand a rearwardly disposed frame member. said attrhment compris ng ahopper including dispensing mechanism adapted to be carried on saidframe member. and means adapting said dispensing mechanism to be drivenfrom the power take-off of the tractor.

i 4. A dusting machine adapted for attachment to a tractor of the typehaving transmission gearing and a power take-oil shaft the grooves inthe cutter connected therewith, said dusting machine comprising a frameadapted to be carried by the tractor, a hopper on the frame, feeding anddisdiarging mechanisms for the hopper, 5 and means adapting saidmechanisms to be driven from said power take-0E shaft.

5. A dusting machine adapted for attachment to a tractor of the typehaving transmission gearing 'and' a power take-off shaftconnectedrtherewith, said dusting machine comprising a frame adapted tobe carried by the tractor, a hop er carried by the frame, a dischargeconduit for, the hopper, mechanism for moving material from the hopper15 into the conduit, a blower carried by the frame for directing acontinuous blast of air through the conduit, and means for driving themoving mechanism and the blower to be driven from said power take-offshaft.

6. A dusting machine attachment for tractors of the type having atransmission and power take-off shaft connected therewith, and a rearaxle, said attachment comprising a frame adapted to be carried by thetractor,

a hopper on said frame, a discharge conduit for the hopper, mechanismfor feeding materiul from the hopper to the conduit, hanger bracketsadapted to be hung from the rear axle of the tractor, a blower carriedby said hanger brackets. said blower directing a blast of air throughthe conduit, and driving connections for the blower and feedingmechanism adapted for connection with the power take-off shaft of thetractor.

35 In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LEOPOLD F. BURGER.

connected therewith, said dusting machine comprising a frame adapted tobe carried by the tractor, a hopper on the frame, feeding anddis-"barging mechanisms for the hopper, 5 and means adapting saidmechanisms to be driven from said power take-ofi' shaft.

5. A dusting machine adapted for attachment to a. tractor of the typehaving trans mission gearing and a power take-oil shaftconnectedrtherewith, said dusting machine comprising a frame adapted tobe carried by the tractor, a hop or carried by the frame, a dischargeconduit for the hopper, mechanism for moving material from the hopper 15into the conduit, a blower carried by the frame for directing acontinuous blast of air through the conduit, and means for driving themoving mechanism and the blower to be driven from said power take-offshaft.

6. A dusting machine attachment for tractors of the type having atransmission and power take-off shaft connected therewith, and a rearaxle, said attachment comprising a frame adapted to be carried by thetractor,

25 a hopper on said frame, a discharge conduit for the hopper, mechanismfor feeding material from the hopper to the conduit, hanger bracketsadapted to be hung from the rear axle of the tractor, a blower carriedby said hanger brackets. said blower directing a blast of air throughthe conduit. and driving connections for the blower and feeding mechanism adapted for connection with the power take-off shaft of thetractor.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

LEOPOLD F. BURGER.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,832,963. Granted November 24, 1931. to

LEOPOLD F. BURGER.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the aboye numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4,line 17, claim 5, for the word "driving" read adapting; and that thesaid Letters Patent should: be read with this correction therein thatthe same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 9th day of February, A. D. 1932.

M. J. Moore,

(Seal) Acting Conanleaioner of Patenta.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,832,963. Granted November 24, I93, to

LEOPOLD F BURGER.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction at follows: Page 4,line 17, claim 5, for the word "driving" read adapting; and that thesaid Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that thesame may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 9th day of February, A. D. 1932.

M. J. Moore. (Seal) Acting Conmiseioner of Patents.

